EDIT:
While the caps will charge to peak voltage with no load, as soon as you draw current to the DC load the voltage will fall to, I believe, the AC RMS value or lower if there is substantial current draw. This is why you will need a DC regulator, which should regulate to a voltage 70-80% below the max possible DC Voltage. If you want stable DC, that is.

So which is it? 70 to 80 percent below max possible DC voltage (peak) or 80% of the AC input voltage like you said in the previous post? For the record, I am talking about this case concerning what the voltage would be. Obviously the voltage will develop ripple and the average output will drop as you draw current from it. Just how much it drops depends on how much current is drawn and the size of the filter cap. This is pre-regulator I am talking about.

So which is it? 70 to 80 percent below max possible DC voltage (peak) or 80% of the AC input voltage like you said in the previous post? For the record, I am talking about this case concerning what the voltage would be. Obviously the voltage will develop ripple and the average output will drop as you draw current from it. Just how much it drops depends on how much current is drawn and the size of the filter cap. This is pre-regulator I am talking about.

You want to regulate the DC voltage to at least 80% of the max DC output of your bridge rectifier. The Bridge will produce ~%80 of the input AC as DC. So if you want a well regulated 12VDC out, with a reasonable current draw, start with ~24VAC.

These of course are very rough figures you will need to design you PS with consideration of what your current needs will be.